Hudson Yards really is a West Side Story—for a new millennium, that is.

You could mark time with the rise of this mammoth project, which, since its official groundbreaking in December 2012, has slowly come to punctuate the New York City skyline like an unblemished Gotham in miniature, a set of gleaming skyscrapers. Bounded by 10th and 12th Avenues and 30th and 34th Streets on Manhattan’s Far West Side, the development began as a neglected (albeit active) rail yard for LIRR, Amtrak, and NJ transit trains; with the muscle of Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group, it has evolved into a destination. Once completed, Hudson Yards will be the largest private real estate development in U.S. history, at a cost of $25 billion, with more than 18 million square feet of commercial and residential space, more than 100 shops and restaurants, and a whopping 14 acres of public open space.

Some of the star items in Phase I of the project, also known as the Eastern Yards, are set to open today: The Public Square and Gardens, a five-acre park; Vessel, a 150-foot-tall, stainless steel stairway-to-nowhere sculpture that will likely spur some competitive climbing; and The Shops & Restaurants, a seven-story retail center home to NYC's first Neiman Marcus, shops that range from Cartier to Zara, and restaurants by the likes of Thomas Keller, David Chang, and José Andrés. Phase II, the Western Yards, is still in development. It will add more office and residential space, including a 750-seat public elementary school and the remainder of the total 14 acres of public space by the time of its projected completion in 2025.

But who’s going to spend their precious leisure time in Manhattan’s Wild West, a part of the city that, until now, has mostly been a series of condos, cruise terminals, and convention centers? (The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center will be the Yards’ next-door neighbor.) Will it draw tourists? Bridge-and-tunnel commuters? Or the most coveted prize of all: New Yorkers?

Kenneth A. Himmel, president and CEO of Related Urban, the mixed-use division of Related Companies, for one, hopes the hometown folks will be the first to bite. “I think the greatest sign of approval in a project like ours will come from the people in New York City,” he says. “What you hope is to win the hearts and stomachs of the people who live and work in the community in which you’re building.” Once New Yorkers are hooked, the logic seems to flow, everyone else will follow.

So, how do you get there?

The better question might be, how can’t you get there?

One of Hudson Yards’ points of pride is its accessibility from other parts of the city, and even from outside of it: You can get there on foot, by train, taxi, Uber, ferry, and even air (it’s the West 30th St. Heliport, if you’re truly feeling like Bruce Wayne). The 7 train, which also passes through popular spots like Grand Central-42nd Street and Times Square-42nd Street, opened an extension here in 2015 at 34th Street-Hudson Yards. If you’re partial to driving, your Uber driver can pull in off the West Side Highway and drop you right at the entrance to the Shops & Restaurants. Even the folks driving in from Jersey will find something to like, transportation-wise; the Lincoln Tunnel spits you out about a 10-minute drive from the action. Hudson Yards is two avenues west of Penn Station, and about a 20-minute walk southwest from Port Authority. And, hey—there's always the ferry. (The Midtown/W. 39th Street terminal is a 12-minute walk from the development.)

Outside The Shops & Restaurants at Hudson Yards.

Courtesy Related Oxford

But if you really want to take your time, hop on the High Line, which will now allow you to reach Hudson Yards directly, with a new entrance at 10th Avenue and 30th Street. You can walk up at Gansevoort and Washington Streets, right by the

Whitney Museum of American Art in the Meatpacking District, and the path will deposit you just between The Shed and 10 Hudson Yards, where you can then while away some time in the Public Square and Gardens before stuffing your face with paella.

What do you do there?

Hudson Yards is an exercise in community building, a chance for people to come together over food, fashion, and art—with plenty of breathing room—in a city that often feels as squeezed and claustrophobic as it does huge and unconquerable. At more than 11.9 million square feet, the Eastern Yards are made up of seemingly endless commercial and residential space, as well as ample outdoor space. The Public Square and Gardens, for instance, designed by Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects with Heatherwick Studio, will be filled with more than 28,000 plants, over 200 mature trees, perennial gardens, and maybe best of all, pedestrian paths lined with almost a mile of walls where you can sit and take it all in.

And if you want to know more about that hive-like structure in the middle of it all, it’s Thomas Heatherwick and Heatherwick Studio's temporarily named Vessel. Hudson Yards’ marketing materials call it a “new kind of public landmark” that’s meant to be explored; and explore it, you will. Made of 154 interconnecting flights of stairs—that’s nearly 2,500 individual steps—with 80 different landings to peter out to, it’ll no doubt attract swarms of visitors drawn by the lure of an epic selfie.

Vessel, as it's temporarily known, is made of 154 interconnecting flights of stairs, with nearly 2,500 individual steps and 80 different landings.

Courtesy Forbes Massie Heatherwick Studio

Better still: Where should I eat?

Wedged between 10 and 30 Hudson Yards is where you’ll find The Shops & Restaurants with more than 100 stores, including outposts of Coach, Van Cleef & Arpels, Uniqlo, Zara, H&M, Lululemon, and Sephora, some of which are even planning “special activations” for their new residencies at Hudson Yards. (Cartier, for example, is launching “Les Galaxies de Cartier,” a jewelry collection exclusive to the space.) Level Two, which the developers have dubbed the “Floor of Discovery,” might be the most exciting bit. The space is dedicated to some of the first physical New York City locations—and the first brick-and-mortar locations, period—of a number of digitally native brands, like Italian leather shoe brand M.Gemi’s first permanent store in New York City, or women’s brand Heidi Klein’s first U.S. outpost. It’s also where you’ll find more experiential offerings from retailers, like a concept store from L’Oréal, and a Muji with a custom embroidery station and coffee shop.

One thing’s for sure: While you’re there, you won’t run out of stuff to eat. Co-curated by Thomas Keller and Kenneth Himmel, the project has lured a hearty handful of the world’s best culinary talent, like chef Costas Spiliadis, who’s commandeering a slice of Levels Five and Six for an outpost of Estiatorio Milos, his Mediterranean seafood spot; David Chang (of Momofuku) and his fried chicken concept spot, Fuku, on Level Two; and chef Thomas Keller, himself, whose Continental cuisine outfit, TAK Room—think table-side preparation and Champagne carts—straddles Levels Five and Six.

There’s also José Andrés’ Mercado Little Spain, an Eataly-esque food hall dedicated to Spanish cuisine, on the ground level of 10 Hudson Yards, which the chef collaborated on with the Adrià Brothers, formerly of Spain’s three-Michelin star elBulli. Kevin Stuessi, a vice president at Related Companies, calls it “35,000 square feet of dining and drinking decadence.” It’s both Andrés and the brothers’ first foray into New York City’s dining scene—and what an entry it will be, with three full-service restaurants including Leña, which will be dedicated to live fire cooking, and Mar, which will focus on seafood. There will also be two bars—one for Spanish wines, and one for cocktails—plus 15 tapas kiosks, according to Eater NY, so come hungry.

There are also a few single-name entities that will be worth checking out once they open. At 1,100 feet high, edge (yes, lowercase “edge”) will be the highest outdoor observation deck in New York City—in the Western Hemisphere, in fact—and the fifth highest in the world when it opens atop 30 Hudson Yards, expected in early 2020. The elevator ride alone will take about 60 seconds, and once you reach the 100th floor, you can look forward to a 7,500-square-foot deck with a layered glass floor. Rhubarb, the U.K.-based hospitality group, is also opening a restaurant, bar, and lounge up there (the concept is yet to be announced) on the 101st floor, where you can grab a bite to eat—if you still have the stomach for it, that is. The Shed, a nonprofit cultural center (and the only piece of Hudson Yards funded by New York City itself) will open April 5. Notably, it will commission original works across disciplines: Its first program will be a five-night concert series, Soundtrack of America, celebrating the influence of African-American music. It even has a retractable canopy.

One thing is clear: Hudson Yards wants to keep you (and your stomach, and your wallet) around. And with plenty of residential space, solid accessibility, absurdly good dining, top-tier shopping—and the first Equinox Hotel expected to open at 35 Hudson Yards in June—it can very well try. That’s not all, according to Mr. Himmel: There’s a piece of the project he’s been coveting “for almost five years,” and is about to successfully get. “I can’t tell you who it is, but you will know within the next 90 days; we will be signing a lease with the one major anchor that you would say takes us over the top.”